Nestable Bakery Tray Drain Channels for Easy Un-Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stackable trays for baked products face difficulties in un-stacking in 180° orientation, bending under loaded weight, and poor cleaning due to flat bases, and are often designed for specific products, leading to inefficiencies in storage and handling.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates vertical stacking legs and recesses for easy un-stacking, scalloped handles for orientation recognition, elongated openings for tool access, drain channels for efficient cleaning, and spacers to modify storage dimensions, ensuring easier handling and cleaning while accommodating various products.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of stationary object
If trays are stacked in 180° stacking orientation to reduce storage height, then storage space efficiency is improved, but un-stacking becomes difficult due to stacking feet being difficult to extract from receptacles
Solution Approach 1:
The stacking feet are given a rounded or curved end geometry instead of a flat or sharp edge. This curvature allows the stacking feet to more easily enter and exit the receptacles during stacking and un-stacking operations, reducing friction and making extraction simpler while maintaining the nested configuration for compact storage.
2Manufacturing precision
If trays are designed with tight size and weight tolerances to fit products precisely, then product fit is improved, but the plastic material becomes inadequate to support the weight of baked products causing base bending
Solution Approach 1:
The tray base is constructed using composite material structures, combining multiple layers or types of plastic materials with different properties. This allows the tray to maintain tight dimensional tolerances for product fit while the composite structure provides enhanced strength and load-bearing capacity to support heavy baked products without base bending.
3Strength
If trays are provided with substantially flat, horizontal upper surface on the base to carry heavier loads, then load-bearing capacity is improved, but cleaning becomes difficult as water pools on the flat surface
Solution Approach 1:
The upper surface of the tray base is given a curved or domed configuration instead of being completely flat. This curvature prevents water from pooling on the surface during cleaning, allowing water to naturally drain off while maintaining the structural strength needed to carry heavier loads of baked products.
4Shape
If trays are designed with symmetrical handles on all four side walls for aesthetic appeal, then appearance is improved, but it becomes difficult to determine stacking orientation at a glance
Solution Approach 1:
While maintaining symmetrical handles on all four side walls for aesthetic appeal and structural balance, an asymmetric feature is added to one or more handles, such as a protrusion, indentation, or directional marking. This asymmetric element breaks the visual symmetry just enough to provide immediate visual cues about the correct stacking orientation, allowing workers to quickly identify proper tray arrangement without compromising the overall symmetric design.
Data Source
AI summary
A tray for transporting and displaying baked products is disclosed. The tray can be stacked in a 0° and 180° stacking configuration. The trays further include substantially non-glossy, non-smooth surfaces that allow stickers to be more easily removed, as well as drain channels in the base to facilitate removal of water following washing. The trays further include a scalloped handle on one side of the tray only to allow operators to more easily recognize which side of the tray they are facing. A tray retrieval tool can be used with several hook areas to facilitate retrieval of the trays following washing in high temperature water, or following stacking and storage. The trays further include spacers and spacer holes to place the spacers so that different types of baked products can be accommodated without damaging or destroying the baked product.